


saw my face in the mirror (though I know I've changed)

by orange_yarn



Series: and the wonder of the moment sticks to me (TAZ Hogwarts AU) [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/M, Julia Burnsides Lives, M/M, glamour springs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-05 23:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17334485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orange_yarn/pseuds/orange_yarn
Summary: Lup pulls some strings. Barry writes a resume. Taako starts over.(Part one of a very long TAZ Hogwarts AU.)





	1. -+- one -+-

**Author's Note:**

> Back in October, my sister and I discussed TAZ characters and Hogwarts houses. This quickly developed into a full blown AU where the Seven Birds were all Hogwarts professors. I joked that I would the write story for NaNoWriMo....and then I did. I wrote 75,000 words of it. So, yeah.
> 
> This is the first in a series of one-shots and and few multi-chaptered fics, set in this weird TAZ/Hogwarts Fusion. (For the record, there are no Harry Potter characters here, just the setting/concepts.) The quote unquote "main storyline" is when they are all adults and teaching at the school -- including the story you're about to read -- but I wrote a whole lot about them as Hogwarts students, too, so expect some of that a little further down the line.
> 
> Pairings: Established Barry/Lup, eventual Taako/Kravitz. Rating is for swears, alcohol, and some descriptions of violence. Unbetaed.
> 
> This series is dedicated to my babiest sister, it would not exist without her. Please thank/blame her accordingly. Fic title is from "Black Water" by Reuben and the Dark, series title is from "We Are Infinite" by The Lighthouse and the Whaler. Obviously TAZ characters and Harry Potter concepts are not mine, I'm just borrowing them. ;)

-+-

 

Kravitz appears in her fireplace on a Wednesday evening. Lup’s in her office, sort of grading the third year’s Final Exams, but mostly just drawing pictures of Grindylows in the margin of maybe the worst essay on counter-jinxes she’s ever read -- and in her seven years of teaching at Hogwarts, she has read some _terrible_ essays.

“Ghost Rider,” Lup says cheerfully, abandoning the stack of papers, and deciding that Tomorrow Lup can just deal with them. “Hey, did you get my message? Will you come and talk to some sixth years next semester? I need someone to corroborate all my badass Auror stories.”

“I got your message.” Kravitz sounds distracted, and his form in the fireplace is staring off to the right. He says something else, but it’s muffled, like maybe he’s talking to someone else on his end, before he turns back to Lup. “That’s not why I called.”

Lup kicks off from her desk and spins lazily in her chair. “I hope you’re not gonna beg me to come back to the Ministry, because I am living my best life here, and--”

“Lup,” Kravtiz says, cutting her off. It’s hard to read his expression, on account of he’s just a disembodied head in her fireplace. Still, after five years of working together as Aurors, Lup likes to think she can read Kravitz pretty well. She can’t put a name to it, but there’s something in his expression that makes her stomach twist. And then he says, “It’s about your brother,” and her heart seizes up, just for a second, before it kicks it overdrive.

Truth be told, she hasn’t actually _seen_ Taako in months. _Sizzle It Up_ had really taken off, and he’s been touring basically 24/7, and she lives at the school for nine months out of the year. He’d come home to visit for Candlenights, but they hadn’t met up over her spring break. Lup blamed Sazed for that one, more than the show, but that was an entirely different can of worms. Still, even though she hadn’t seen him face to face, he called her every night, without fail, and they talked for hours. Actually, he should be calling her any second--

Lup glances at the clock, and realizes with a start that she’s lost track of time. He should have called an hour ago. She swears she can hear her pulse thundering in her ears, but she keeps her voice steady as she asks, “What happened?”

“There was an incident, at his show this afternoon,” Kravitz says slowly, “In Glamour Springs.”

 

-+-

 

“You’re sure you want me to stay here?” Barry asks, for the sixth time, as Lup tears through their rooms, packing a bag. She doesn’t grab much -- she has her wand, and she grabs a few changes of clothes. “I can help at the scene, maybe do some damage control--”

“I think we’re well past that,” Lup says, glancing around the room to make sure she hasn’t left anything important. She has no idea how long she’ll be gone, but she’s not coming back until this is done. “Right now I’m just worried about keeping him out of Azkaban.”

“You don’t think--” Barry asks, but he trails off as Lup shakes her head, once. “It’s that bad?”

“It sounds pretty fucking bad.” Lup says, her voice grim. Kravitz couldn’t tell her much. The Aurors on the scene weren’t even entirely sure what had gone down. But _forty people_ \-- no, nope, she won’t let herself think about that part, not yet. She waves her wand, and the latches on her suitcase snap shut. She can’t apparate on castle grounds, but the second she gets to Hogsmeade--

“I’m coming with you,” Barry says, sounding like he’s made up his mind. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing, not when Taako’s in trouble.”

Lup just shakes her head. She leans in to press a kiss to his cheek, and lets him pull her into an embrace. “I’ve got this handled. Just keep these kids from burning down the castle while I’m gone. You know how they get the last week before break. Oh, wait, also,” she adds thoughtfully, “Grade all those final exams for me? It’ll be just like old times.”

Barry manages a laugh at that one, squeezing her a little tighter before letting go. “You mean, when we were kids, and I did all your homework?”

“Don’t exaggerate, you didn’t do all of it.” Lup waves her wand again, and her suitcase levitates off the bed. “Taako did my Transfiguration homework, and Julia wrote all my Charms essays, and you only did the rest of it.”

“Right, right,” Barry adjusts his glasses, probably just to have something to do with his hands, and he says, “He’s not going to Azkaban.”

“I mean, no, he’s not,” Lup agrees. “Now, if that’s because they find him innocent, or because I sneak him out of the country, I do not know.” She pauses, and fixes Barry with a serious stare. “Look, if I can’t get him out of this, like, legally, we might actually need to go on the lam. How does Venezuela sound?”

Barry hums thoughtfully. “You know, I could get used to the beach life. I’m just gonna need, like, all of the sunscreen.” He glances down at his arms, frowning at his pale skin, and probably imagining himself sunburned, miserable and lobster-red. He shrugs.

Lup laughs, and kisses him. “That’s what I love about you, Babe. Ride or die.” She can’t stand waiting any longer, not when Taako needs her, so she takes a step back and says, “I’m going to fix this.”

“I know you will,” Barry says, with conviction, and Lup squeezes his hand, and then she heads for the door.

 

-+-

 

On Wednesday morning, Taako held a signing at Flourish and Blotts, to celebrate the release of his new cookbook. People waited for _hours_ , in a line that went out the door and wrapped halfway down Diagon Alley. Public appearances were kind of his jam -- maximum adoration with minimum effort? It was the perfect combination. Plus, a magic-friendly venue meant Taako just lounged in a comfy chair and listened to people extol his virtues while an enchanted quill scrawled his signature in a couple hundred books. At the Muggle venues, he had to sign the books himself, like a _peasant_. It was the only downside to what his agent kept calling, “crossover appeal.” Still, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the morning, if you asked him.

That afternoon, he’d done a taping of _Sizzle It Up_ , for a primarily Muggle audience, in a town called Glamour Springs. That part hadn’t gone as well.

The good news -- the _only_ good news -- was that no one had actually died. Healers from St. Mungo’s had gotten to the scene almost as quickly as the Aurors, and they were able to counteract the poison. Unfortunately, all forty witnesses had to be rounded up and have their minds wiped by about a dozen harried Ministry employees. Taako is pretty sure he’s in more trouble for breaking the Statute of Secrecy than he is for almost killing forty people.

Now, he’s sitting in a molded plastic chair, squirreled away in a nondescript cinder-block room in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic. There are no windows, but there is a long mirror on one wall, and the table is bolted to the floor.  A pair of magic suppressing cuffs are rubbing at his skin, cinched too tight, and worse that that, they’re _ugly_.

A Ministry official dropped him off in here with a glass of water, a roll of parchment, and a quill. He’d been instructed to write out his statement, and told that an Auror would be in to speak with him soon. That was an hour ago, maybe two. It’s pretty tough to keep track of time down here, especially when he keeps getting lost in his own head, trying to figure out what went wrong, and trying to guess what’s going to happen to him now.

Maybe Sazed had the right idea after all -- he disapparated as soon as the first person got sick. Taako had hesitated just long enough to fire off a spell that probably saved some lives, and _definitely_ violated some international wizarding laws. As it turned out, he also hesitated just long enough to get caught.

Finally, the door swings open, and Kravitz appears in the doorway. Taako’s got decidedly mixed feelings about the guy at the moment. On the one hand, he’s an old friend of Lup and Barry’s, from when they used to be Aurors. On the other hand, this is the person that may or may not be feeding him to some dementors after all of this is done. And to top it all off, Taako can’t even look at him without remembering the embarrassing, definitely unrequited crush he’d had on Kravtiz since like, his second year at Hogwarts, which is not at all appropriate in these dire circumstance, and is also _super weird_.

“Quick question,” Taako asks, because he has a very short list of coping mechanisms, and running his mouth to avoid actual emotions is near the top. Kravitz takes a seat on the other side of the table, and sets a vial down in front of him, beside the empty coffee mug. Veritaserum, for sure. The Ministry is not even fucking around with this case. “Does Azkaban only do life sentences, or can you get out early for good behavior?”

Kravitz shoots him a look. “You’re not going to Azkaban,” he says, looking at him like maybe it’s the stupidest thing he’s ever head, and yeah, that’s a good feeling. Awesome, gold star. “I am sorry about the wait, my last interview went a little longer than expected.”

“That’s cool, can we rewind to the part where I’m not going to Azkaban?” Taako leans forward, cuffs clanking against the metal table. They were apparently standard protocol for interrogating _persons of interest_ , but they were definitely harshing his vibe. “Can I get that in writing? Or do I have to like, turn State’s Evidence? Is that anything?”

“Why don’t we start with your statement,” Kravitz suggests instead, and the words are light but his tone says _cut the shit_ , and Taako gets the message loud and clear.

He spends the next hour recounting what happened in Glamour Springs, and answering dozens of other questions -- about _Sizzle It Up_ , about navigating both the Muggle and Wizarding tour circuits, about Sazed’s role in the show. Kravitz asks about the spell Taako used in front of all those Muggles -- _deletrius_ , the eradication spell,  to disintegrate all the food the second he realized it was poison. He asks even more questions about Sazed, after that, which is strange, but Taako answers him anyway, while an enchanted quill transcribes his every word.

“What happens now?” Taako asks, when Kravitz eventually runs out of questions, and starts to pack up the parchment and quill. “You said I’m not going to Azkaban. I’m pretty sure that’s legally binding, by the way, if you go back on it now, that’s entrapment --”

“-- Now, you’re going to be released.”

Taako blinks. He tries to process this new information, but he can’t get any traction, because it can’t be that easy, there is no way. “Okay, obviously I’m not complaining, and I’m not gonna tell you how to do your job, but--”

Kravitz cuts him off, and says, “Maybe I should just tell what I learned in my last interview.”

“Yeah, go for it.” Taako shrugs, and sits back in his chair, waving for him to continue.

“We apprehended your associate, Sazed,” Kravitz explains, and then he presses on before Taako can interrupt again. “He was initially...reluctant...to submit to the veritaserum. But, he did eventually cooperate, and then he admitted to using Arsenic to poison the people of Glamour Springs.” He pauses, but Taako can’t make the words go, so Kravtiz continues. “We’ll transport him to Azkaban, to wait for his trial, and then I expect we’ll transport him right back to prison when the trial is done. We have a pretty solid case against him.”

Maybe thirty seconds pass in silence, before Taako finally finds his voice, and when he does, he asks, “Why would he want to kill all those people? And why didn’t you use the truth potion on me?” He motions to the vial on the table, still sealed. Kravtiz coughs, and nods at the now empty glass of water, and oh. _Oh_. “Is that even legal?”

“With the right paperwork, yes.” Kravitz pushes back his chair, but he doesn't stand. “To answer your other question, it seems that you were the only real target. The others were just collateral damage.”

“Well, shit.” Taako slumps back in his chair. “Am I still under arrest?”

“You did still violate the International Statute of Secrecy,” Kravtiz reminds him as he stands, and Taako hums, because yeah, right. That. “There will be hearing in a few weeks, to decide if your actions were justified.” He pulls out a wand and taps it on Taako’s cuffs, and they fall away.  “I expect they’ll rule in your favor.”

“They were super justified,” Taako insists, rubbing at his wrists, and letting out a breath as his magic thrums just under his skin.

Kravitz almost smiles, and says, “Normally you’d remain in Ministry custody until the hearing.” He opens the door, and motions for Taako follow him. He can see Lup just a little further down the hall, phone pressed to her ear, probably talking to Barry. He has never been happier to see anyone in his entire life. “But apparently a high ranking Ministry official owed your sister a favor. And fifteen dollars.”

 

-+-

 

Their exit from the Ministry of Magic is somewhat a blur. Lup guides him down a hall, and up an elevator, and finally into the lobby. Nobody stops them, and the lobby is sparsely populated. Lup tucks Taako close into her side and disappartes them as soon as she’s able.

The next second, they’re standing in her kitchen and it’s dark, until Lup snaps her fingers and the overhead light clicks on, and the ceiling fan starts to spin lazily. For a second, Taako doesn’t understand why the place feels vacant, and why all the furniture’s covered --then it clicks, that Barry and Lup are only here a few months out of the year. He says, “You’re supposed to be at the school.”

“Yeah, turns out you can get time off when your brother gets arrested,” Lup shoots back, and he winces. She kind of looks like she wants to shake him, but she squeezes his shoulders instead, then drags her hands down his arms, checking him over. “Taako, what the _fuck_? What happened? Are you hurt?”

Taako isn’t sure how to answer any of those questions, so he doesn’t say anything at all. Lup’s still in his space, and her fingers trace over the raw marks the cuffs left behind. Taako winces in pain and surprise, jerking out of her reach, and stepping back so fast he almost crashes into the kitchen table.

“I’m fine,” he insists, tucking his arm against his chest, and resting his other hand on the table to steady himself. Maybe not his finest moment, but he’s running on fumes at this point.

Lup’s eyes narrow. “Bull _shit_ ,” she says, and he knows better than to lie to her, of course he does, but he can barely process his emotions on a good day, and today has been hell. Lup is quiet for a moment, studying him. She takes a breath and motions to a chair. “Sit down, I’m gonna find something for that.”

She stalks off, and Taako mostly falls into the chair, his energy sapped. His brain is already replaying all the events over again, trying to make sense of it all, and failing. Eventually, Lup comes back with a first aid kit and two bottles of wine. Score. She goes to the drawer and uncorks the wine first, because priorities. She pours two glasses, sliding one across the table to Taako, and then she goes ahead and sets the bottle by him as well.

They’re quiet, for a few minutes. Lup sits facing Taako, their knees brushing, and flips open the lid of the first aid kit. Taako’s already halfway through his glass of wine by the time she motions for him to give her his hand. She lays it on a towel she’s spread out on the table, palm up.

“What is that?” Taako asks, as Lup squints at the unlabeled jar she’s just pulled out of the kit.

“Something Barry cooked up. It’s either burn cream or some weird necromancy shit.” She twists the lid off, sniffs it, and shrugs. “Probably burn cream.”

“Sure,” Taako agrees, still working on his drink while Lup slathers his skin in the cream. It stings for a few seconds, but then the skin goes cool and numb, and everything smells like mint. They both watch for any kind of reaction, and when nothing happens Lup wraps his wrist with a bandage, and then refills his glass, and then repeats the process with his other hand.

“So,” Lup says, packing the first aid kit back up, but leaving the lid open. “Are we going to talk about this, or what?”

“What do you want me to say?” Taako slumps down in his chair, and Lup must have busted out the good shit, because he’s already starting to feel disconnected from his body, like everything’s shifted just one degree to the left, but somehow still out of reach. Or maybe that’s just the trauma, he honestly doesn’t know. “I fucked up.”

“What happened?” Lup insists, and there’s an edge to her voice, but Taako knows she’s not upset with him, just upset that she can’t fix what’s gone wrong.

Taako is quiet, thinking. She’s not really asking what happened, there’s no way she wasn’t on the other side of that glass, watching the interview. He isn’t sure he can answer the question she really is asking, though, because he doesn’t even know for sure himself. “Sazed tried to murder me, I guess? And almost murdered a bunch of Muggles instead, and then I did magic so they wouldn’t die, and that’s apparently illegal.”

“A little bit, yeah.” Lup runs his fingertip along the rim of her glass. “The hearing’s just a formality. They’ll dismiss the charges.”

“What if they don’t?” Taako wonders, realizing his glass has emptied itself again, and taking a swig straight from the bottle this time. “Do you think they’ll snap my wand? Does that really happen?” Just wearing those suppressant cuffs for a few hours was awful, he can’t imagine being perma-banned from magic.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Lup rolls her eyes, and kicks Taako in the shin, but just a little bit. “The Ministry really should be thanking you. It’d be way more paperwork if all those people had died.”

Taako only hums in response. He can’t get the thoughts out of his head, the audience doubled over, gasping and choking on their own -- he shakes his head to try and chase the images away, but they linger. He thinks maybe he’ll see it every time he closes his eyes.

“Taako, look at me,” Lup says, and he does. His sister is staring at him, her eyes steely, her mouth pressed in a firm line. “You did the right thing. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Taako says, and then, a little more sure of himself. “Yeah, I know.”

“Good.” Lup drains her glass all at once, and uncorks the second bottle. “Those people are all fine, thanks to you. They don’t even know it happened to them.”

Taako doesn’t know how to explain to her that that feels worse, somehow, so he drinks instead.

 

-+-

 

Barry and Lup bought a house, just outside of the city, back when they both worked for the Ministry. Nowadays, they come home for summers, and for holiday breaks, but mostly it sits empty, the furniture covered, the rooms dark and lonely. Probably they should sell it, instead of paying the bills for a place they barely spend any time in. It’s nothing fancy, just one story, with two bedrooms, and a yard full of plants that neither one of them can keep alive -- but it’s a home, and Lup loves it so much, Barry can’t even imagine letting it go.

By the time he finally gets there, it’s either very late at night, or very early in the morning. It was the last week of term, and thankfully finals were over with, because neither he or Lup was going to be back until all of this was sorted out. Obviously, Lucretia was understanding, and as soon as Barry had all of the odds and ends for the year sorted out for his classes, and for Lup’s, he’d come home…to find both twins sprawled on the couch, and very, very drunk.

“Hey, Babe?” Lup calls, dangling off the couch, with half of her body on the floor. She holds up a little jar, and waves it around as Barry makes his way into the living room. He counts at least four empty wine bottles on the floor. They haven’t even uncovered the furniture, everything’s still draped in white sheets. “What is this?”

Barry recognizes the jar from the first aid, which he notices is open on the kitchen table. He sniffs the contents, and says, “Burn cream?” For whatever reason, both twins burst into raucous laughter. “Okay, so, I guess we’re not going to Venezuela?”

“Apparently not,” Taako says, from the floor. “Heyo, Barold.”

“Hi.” Barry nods down at him, then looks back to his wife. “On a scale of one to alcohol poisoning, how worried should I be right now?” Taako winces, and Barry regrets his word choice. Shit.

“Too soon,” Lup chides, and then she slides the rest of the way to the floor. Barry takes off his glasses, and rubs at his temples.

It takes the better part of fifteen minutes to wrestle the twins into his and Lup’s bed. He peels off their shoes, and then he realizes that he deposited them on top of the covers, so he grabs the throw blankets from the living room to cover them up with instead. He picks up the wine bottles and miscellaneous mess from the living room, and calls the rest of their friends to fill them in on what little he can -- basically, that Taako is safe, if nothing else.

By the time he takes a shower and returns to the bedroom, Lup looks at least semi-conscious. She’s on one side of the bed, and she’s dragged Taako to the middle, arms wrapped around his body not unlike an octopus. She nods sleepily to Barry’s space on the bed. He climbs in on the other side, and leans over Taako to kiss his wife.

“Get a room,” Taako mumbles, not bothering to open his eyes.

“This _is_ our room, dingus,” Lup laughs, flicking his ear. Taako makes an unhappy sound, and drifts the rest of the way back to sleep, Lup following soon after. Barry can’t sleep for a long time, though, his mind whirring and his stomach churning as he tries to figure a way out of this mess.

 

-+-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized halfway through editing this chapter that I did not mention a single character's Hogwarts house, or what classes they teach. Probably you can guess, or you can just wait for me post more fic.
> 
> I plan to update on Sundays. 75,000 words of this story are written, but very few of those words are organized or edited. I'm doing my best.
> 
> I'm orange_yarn on Tumblr and Twitter (mostly just Tumblr), if you'd like to say hi. Thank you for reading.


	2. -+- two -+-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, updating a story on time, for the first time in like, sixteen years of fandom. Thank you so much to everyone who read the first chapter! It's so exciting to share the story I've been living with for months. 
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, references to alcohol, and a very brief mention of past child abuse. 
> 
> A quick note, because I don't think I made this clear last time. In this AU, all their D&D Races (elves, dwarves, etc.) are the same, but I have altered ages, so that they could all have gone to Hogwarts together. 
> 
> Also, all of the "clickbait" Daily Prophet headlines in this chapter were inspired by r Buzzfeed, Clickhole, and The Onion. I had a LOT of fun writing them.

-+-

two

-+-

  


“You’re burning the eggs,” Taako snaps, head down on the kitchen table. It’s fourteen minutes past noon, and he can’t remember the last time he was this hungover. The room spins in a lazy circle, and he squeezes his eyes shut tight. It doesn’t help.

“Are you sure?” Barry asks, and Taako doesn’t lift his head -- he doesn’t think he _can_ lift his head, he swears there’s something very angry drilling through his skull -- but he does hear the unmistakable sound of a spatula scraping the side of a pan, and he smells something awful. “Well, okay. Shit.”

Taako groans, and thinks that if he could burrow through this table and maybe all the way to the molten center of the Earth he would probably do exactly that. He wishes he was back in bed. He wishes yesterday had never happened. He asks, “Aren’t you like, good at Potions? Isn’t that _literally your job_? What happened to that hangover cure you invented when we were in school?”

“Uhm, it didn’t work?” Barry prompts. Taako turns his head to the side and cracks one eye open to watch as Barry scrapes the burnt eggs into the trash can. “You were so hungover you failed your Herbology O.W.L.”

“Real talk, Barold,” Taako mumbles into his elbow. “I was gonna fail that test either way.” Barry hums thoughtfully. “But that was like, fifteen years ago, my dude. You’ve had plenty of time to workshop that shit.”

“I guess I was too busy educating the youth,” Barry deadpans, opening the fridge and rummaging around, presumably looking for more eggs to burn.

“Believe me, the youth are gonna need a good hangover cure,” Taako comments, just as Lup apparates into the room with a _pop_ . She’s clutching a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ . If she’s hungover, she isn’t showing it, she looks put together, and gorgeous, and _furious_.

“Get a load of this bullshit,” she announces, flinging the paper onto the table. Taako sits himself up, wincing at the spike of pain that comes from a change in position. He doesn’t even have to look at the paper to guess what’s on the cover. He looks anyway. Sure enough, the clusterfuck that was his _Sizzle It Up_ show at Glamour Springs made the front page, and it includes a very unflattering picture of him getting dragged away by Aurors in handcuffs. The headline reads, _SHOCKING: DISGRACED TV HOST EXPOSES MAGIC, PUTS WIZARDING WORLD AT RISK_.

“Disgraced, huh?,” Taako says, watching as a grainy version of himself gets hauled off by Aurors, again and again. “That’s kind of judgy.”

There’s a clattering of pots and pans as Lup rummages around in the cabinets, slamming a few onto the stove-top, before dumping half the contents of the pantry and fridge on the counters. Rage cooking, a classic.

Barry very quickly gets out of her way, taking the seat catty-corner to Taako’s at the kitchen table. “I have dirt on everyone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement,” Lup informs them. She makes a sharp hand motion, and two eggs hurl themselves against a bowl like bullets, cracking with enough force that they probably should have shattered. “ _Everyone_. There’s no way any of them leaked the story. And all the witnesses got their minds wiped.”

“Maybe it was somebody at the hospital?” Barry wonders, craning his neck to get a look at the paper. Taako scoots it closer to him -- he’ll read it later, after the room stops spinning.

“Maybe,” Lup says, as the bowl of pancake batter starts mixing itself. “Or maybe the Prophet’s got somebody inside the Ministry.” She waves a spatula at Taako. “They barely even mention Sazed.” She says the name like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth, but then again, she’s always said his name like that.

Taako looks up, surprised. “What does it say about him?”

“Here’s, it’s the last paragraph.” Barry unfolds the paper and reads aloud, “ _Taako’s associate, Sazed, was later taken into custody. The details of his involvement are unclear at this time_.” He clears his throat. “That’s it, nothing about him, you know, planning the entire thing.”

Lup bristles. “You know, I watched his whole interview. That piece of shit wasn’t even sorry for what he did. He was just pissed it didn’t work.” She turns back to the oven, but Taako doesn’t need to see her face to read the anger in every inch of her posture. “Kravtiz wouldn’t let me in the room with him, probably because I would have snapped his neck with my--”

“--Okay, so, less talk about murder, maybe?” Barry suggests, setting the paper down, and glancing up between the twins. Taako slumps forward and rests his head on the table, and Lup focuses on her cooking. It smells delicious. He doesn’t think he can eat any of it. “I’ve spoken to a couple of contacts, and it looks like the soonest they can get this hearing scheduled is two weeks from now.”

Taako doesn’t react to that, because he doesn’t know what to say. Probably he should be more worried -- he _is_ going on trial for forty counts of violating the International Statute of Secrecy, and also he did almost get murdered like, yesterday. But, worrying about it would mean _thinking_ about it, and he doesn’t want to think about any of it any more than he already has. He’d much rather pretend all of this never happened.

Lup snaps, “Why does he even need a hearing, he didn’t do anything wrong.” Taako makes a noise at that, and Lup rounds on him, eyes flashing. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He did magic in front of forty Muggles,” Barry hedges, and when Lup turns to him, ready to argue, he raises his hand in defense. “To save their lives, which is an extenuating circumstance, and he’ll obviously be cleared of all charges.”

“Obviously,” Taako parrots, mostly speaking into the table at this point. He’s not sure if the hangover or the overwhelming sense of dread is worse. Either way, he kind of wants to throw up.

“That asshole tried to kill him, and almost killed all those people.” Lup’s riled up, her fists clenched, her shoulders tense -- Taako hasn’t seen her this angry in a very long time.  Honestly, it’s a little terrifying, even though he knows it’s on his behalf. Actually, maybe _because_ it’s on his behalf. “This shouldn’t even be an issue.” 

“You’re right, it shouldn’t be,” Barry agrees. “But it is. And the court of public opinion doesn’t follow the same rules as, you know, actual justice. I mean,” he trails off, motioning at the _Daily Prophet_ , spread out on the kitchen table.

As if the newspaper wasn’t bad enough, there’s something about Barry’s tone that somehow makes Taako feel even worse. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, this is probably just the beginning, and it won’t stop until the charges are dismissed.” Barry looks grim. “We need to get that hearing moved up.”

  


-+-

  


Lup and Barry cash in on every favor they can, but in the end, they only get the hearing moved up by a few days. In that time, the _Daily Prophe_ t runs Taako’s reputation through a meat grinder.

It turns out that Barry had a point about public opinion. Apparently, Sazed trying to murder him, with forty people as collateral damage, isn’t shocking enough news. No, painting Taako as an egomaniac, and somehow complicit in his own attempted murder, sells more papers. Glamour Springs is all anyone talks about for _weeks_. Half of the wizarding community thinks Taako orchestrated the whole thing, and the other half thinks he probably deserved it.

Before long, Taako’s career is circling the drain -- image is everything in his line of work, and his is pretty well fucked. Barry says he could sue for defamation. Lup makes several angry calls, and even pays a surprise visit to the Prophet’s Editor-In-Chief, but all she gets is threatened with a restraining order. Taako numbs himself with the comfort of trashy daytime TV, to combat the crushing weight of his new reality.

Ten days after Glamour Springs, Taako sits in front of the Wizengamot and pleads his case. A handful of Ministry officials, including Kravitz, recount the findings of their investigations. Kravitz speaks in his favor. A few others do not.

The verdict comes back after only an hour of deliberation. The court rules that while Taako definitely broken the Statue of Secrecy, he saved lives in the process. His actions were justified, and no lasting harm was done. All of his charges are dropped. Sazed, on the other hand, is found to be super guilty, and is carted off to Azkaban by a couple of Aurors. It’s not as satisfying as Taako thought it would be.

  


-+-

  


If anyone asked him, Barry would say that his life was pretty great. He was madly in love with his amazing wife, his job was meaningful and fulfilling, and he had a zany and wonderful group of friends that he considered family. Things really couldn’t get much better for him.

The past few weeks, though, had been _rough_ . The incident at Glamour Springs had rattled them all, and they were still dealing with the aftershocks. Taako could have _died_ \-- but, he didn’t, and he’s safe now, and Barry knows that, but it’s still kind of fucking him up. Lup’s not handling it much better, and Taako’s not handling it at all.

At least the hearing was behind them. Taako’s charges were dropped, and Sazed was in Azkaban, where he belonged. They could finally start to move on.

Unfortunately, none of them were sure what that would look like for Taako. It seemed like _Sizzle It Up_ , and probably Taako’s whole career, was over. Earlier that morning, he’d gotten a call from his agent. He refused to say what it was about, and then he’d locked himself in the spare room for two hours, so it probably wasn’t good news. It didn’t come as much of a surprise, after the all the work the _Daily Prophet_ put into crucifying him. The articles were starting to die off, now that the hearing was over with, but Barry credited that more to it being old news than to Taako being at all vindicated.

“Listen to this one,” Taako says, curled up on one end of the couch. It’s three in the afternoon, but he’s wearing pajama pants and one of Barry’s sweatshirts, with the sleeves pushed up past his elbows. His hair is tied back in a loose braid, and his bare feet are propped on the coffee table. He clears his throat and reads the headline, “ _Remembering Taako: He’s Not Dead, But His Career Sure Is._ ”

“Lup says you’re not supposed to read those,” Barry says. He casts _accio_ , and the paper zooms right from Taako’s hands, and into his. He leafs through the entertainment section, muttering, “There’s no way it actually says -- huh.” He rolls it up tight, waving the paper tube in Taako’s direction. “How’d you even get this? We cancelled our subscription.” _And you haven’t left the house in a week_ , Barry thinks, but he knows better than to say that out loud.

“I have my ways,” Taako says airily. He doesn’t try and take the paper back, so Barry drops the subject. He tosses the contraband onto the coffee table, and it unfurls halfway. Lup’s out for the afternoon and won’t be home for a while, so he’s still got some time to dispose of the evidence.

Maybe five minutes pass in silence, as Barry picks up the TV remote and drops down onto the couch, flipping through the channels halfheartedly. Taako shuffles around, until he’s curled up with his back against the armrest, and his legs crossed. He props his elbow on his knee, and his chin in his hand, and he says, “They cancelled the rest of my tour dates. Probably the show, too, but that’s not official. Yet.”

“I’m sorry,” Barry says, and he means it. He knows how important the show is to Taako. It’s basically been his life these past few years -- it had gotten to the point where his friends and family were seeing less and less of him, which wasn’t great -- but still. Barry never wanted it to end badly. He sets down the remote and glances at his brother-in-law. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Is that not what we’re doing?” Taako asks, bewildered, but then he just shakes his head. He sighs, and stretches out, dropping his feet in Barry’s lap. “Whatever. I was gonna bail soon, it was getting boring. Gotta keep things fresh, you know?”

It’s a lie, and not a very good one, but Barry doesn't have the heart to call him on it.

  


-+-

  


“Don’t take it personally if he tells you to fuck off,” Lup warns, standing with Magnus in the kitchen. She’s got a mug cupped in her hands -- she claims it’s green tea but mostly it just smells like whiskey. Her eyes are fixed on her brother. Taako is in the living room, curled up in a literal nest of blankets, the light from the TV flashing on his face. That morning’s _Daily Prophet_ had read, _SIZZLE IT UP SIZZLES OUT: HIT TV SHOW CANCELLED AFTER FOUR SEASONS._ “It’s been a bad day.”

“I think I can handle it,” Magnus assures her. Lup flashes him a thumbs up, but doesn’t look too optimistic. She heads out onto the back patio, to finish putting together her impromptu cookout -- outside, Julia is helping a struggling Barry light a very ordinary Muggle grill. Magnus heads into the living room, dropping unceremoniously onto the couch. He keeps a careful distance from Taako, and he waits.

The thing Magnus has learned, over twenty plus years of friendship, is that no matter how much he complains about it, Taako is one hundred percent down for some quality cuddle time. If Magnus gets close enough, and sits still for long enough, eventually Taako will scoot right on in there. This breakthrough took years of patience -- admittedly, not Magnus’s strong suit -- but it was worth it. Taako is a good friend to have.

Sure enough, in the ten minutes after Magnus flops down on the couch, Taako adjusts his pillows, and then he reconfigures his entire blanket cocoon, and then he adjusts his pillows _again_ , and by the time that whole process is done, he’s pressed up on Magnus’s right side. Magnus drapes an arm over his shoulders, tugging him in a little closer, and Taako barely even grumbles about it. Success!

Taako doesn’t say anything, and Magnus isn’t going to pressure him into talking if he’s not ready. Instead, he lets his mind wander, thinking back to his very first trip on the Hogwarts Express. He’d never seen any elves, before meeting the twins in the only open compartment on the entire train -- hell, he hadn’t even known that magic _existed_ before he and Julia got their Hogwarts letters, a month before that. Steven Waxmen didn’t know that his late wife was a witch -- and he wouldn’t know, not until Julia found her school records and wrote to him -- but he went along without question or complaint, just like he did when his daughter’s best friend showed up on their doorstep three months earlier, with a black eye and nowhere else to go.

Magnus had been sorted into Gryffindor with Lup, and the two of them got along like a house on fire, right from the start. It took months for Taako to even _speak_ to him. It was Julia that finally won Taako over, and Magnus was really just an extension of her. It wasn’t until their third year at school, when Magnus kind of almost died during a Quidditch match, that he realized that Taako did, in fact, give a shit about him. Taako had denied it, loudly and at length, but it didn’t matter. Magnus knew the truth.

“You look like shit,” Taako says, snapping him back to reality. His tips his head back, glancing up at Magnus with a critical gaze. “Was it last night?”

“Yeah.” Magnus shrugs, ignoring the way the movement pulls at his aching muscles. “It was fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Wasn’t gonna,” Taako says, but he presses just a fraction closer. There’s another beat of silence, and then he says, “Hey, Mags, you were famous for like, a minute, right? What does it feel like to fade into obscurity?”

“What does it -- what now?” Magnus asks, frowning. “When was I famous?”

Taako ignores him, and continues. “The Prophet used to love me, you know? The Muggle papers, too. I was in a Buzzfeed quiz. _‘Choose Ten ‘Sizzle It Up’ Recipes And We’ll Guess Your Zodiac Sign.’”_

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Magnus confesses. Taako just sighs, and pats his knee.

The room falls silent again, except for the muffled sounds of the shopping network on TV, the volume turned down low. Through the sliding glass back door, Magnus can see Barry leaping back as the grill spits out a burst of flame. Julia’s shaking her head, and Lup is doubled over laughing.

“Hey, Taako?” Magnus asks, turning back to face him. “You do know that you like, saved a bunch of people, right? It doesn’t matter what the _Daily Prophet_ or anybody else says. You did the right thing, and I’m proud of you.”

Taako doesn’t answer at first, but there’s a tiny hitch in his breath as he tugs his blankets up higher. His voice is muffled when he says, “Ugh, god, don’t make this weird,” but he doesn’t pull away, a warm weight at Magnus’s side.

  


-+-

  


Lup and Barry give him space, for most of the summer. Magnus and Julia visit a couple times, in those first few weeks -- but then Julia’s Quidditch season starts up in earnest, and Magnus goes on the road with the Holyhead Harpies, like some kind of groupie. They don’t get any other visitors -- Taako isn’t sure if Lup is keeping their friends away for his benefit or their own.

Taako spends most of his time on the couch, putting the Blupjeans Netflix subscription to good use. Lup makes sure he eats, and Barry confiscates the newspapers that Taako keeps sneaking into the house. But eventually, even their patience wears thin.

“This will come as no surprise,” Lup tells him one afternoon, perched cross-legged on the coffee table. Seating options are limited, ever since Taako’s suitcase took up residence in her armchair. “Once again, I have solved all of our problems.”

Taako pauses his show and carefully emerges from his blanket cocoon. “You snuck into the Ministry and stole a time turner?”

“No,” Lup says, and then, “Well, yes, but that was like, four years ago? And that wouldn’t help, anyway. This is a much better plan.”

“Lay it on me,” Taako says, shifting a little in his blankets as Barry joins him, sitting by Taako’s feet at the end of the couch, and looking curious. Whatever Lup’s up to, he’s not in on it.

“Come work with us,” Lup says, spreading her hands wide. “At Hogwarts.”

Taako is silent for a long moment, just trying to process. Finally he says, “I’m sorry, I think I just had a stroke. Come again?”

Lup scowls, folding her arms across her chest. “Don’t be an ass. You heard me.” 

“I heard you say I should come and work at a school, with children?” Taako sits up a little, and glares at her skeptically. “As what, the _janitor_? Did Jenkins finally kick it? Please tell me he did, it’s the one thing that would bring me joy.”

“A janitor?” Lup repeats, scandalized. “As if. And anyway, Jenkins is still alive, _unfortunately_.” She pulls a face, annoyed just at the thought of Jenkins, then she pulls herself together and continues. “The Transfiguration teacher is retiring.”

“She is?” Barry cuts in, looking surprised.

“She just recently decided,” Lup confirms, waving a hand, and ahh. Yeah, Taako knows that look. “She’s been talking about it for forever, she just needed some _gentle encouragemen_ _t_.” At Taako and Barry’s horrified looks, she rolls her eyes and says, “Oh my god, you both need to chill the fuck out. I didn’t do anything to her. Have you met me?”

“Yes,” Barry says, and Taako says, “That’s why we’re worried,” and Lup flips them both off.

Taako takes a breath, and a moment to collect his thoughts. Clearly Lup is invested in this idea, and he doesn’t want to dismiss it outright, but _come on_ . He says, “Okay, so, Lup, you know that I love you, but I’m going to tell you all the reasons this is a terrible plan.” He starts counting off on his fingers. “One, the _Daily Prophet_ just spent an entire summer dragging me. I’m pretty sure people won’t want me teaching their children. That brings me to point number two, which is, you’re suggesting that I willingly spend literally all of my time with children.” He shudders. “Three, I _hated_ school while I was there, why would I go back on purpose?”

Lup’s shaking her head before he’s even finished. “Counterpoints to all of your bullshit points. First, Lucretia doesn’t care about any of that, she knows the Prophet is garbage, and that you’re dope at Transfiguration. Plus, she’s been our friend since we were twelve years old, I’m pretty sure that means she legally has to hire you.”

“That’s not how that works,” Barry interrupts, but Lup waves him off.

“Second, teaching children is easy.” Lup says. “You’ve been teaching people how to cook for years. These are eleven year olds, and you’re teaching easy magic, like mice into matchboxes and shit. That’s nothing.”

“Hmm,” Taako says thoughtfully. “Go on.”

“Third, you only hated school for like, the first month, and we all know it. And fourth,” and here she fixes him with a serious stare, not breaking eye contact, “You’re my brother and I love you, but you cannot live on my couch for the rest of eternity. You need a job, and to be completely honest I can’t think of anyone other than Lucretia I can talk into hiring you. Like you said, everybody kind of hates you right now, bro.”

“Wow, thanks for that pep talk,” Taako drawls, slumping back a little on the couch. “Very inspiring.”

“I do what I can,” Lup answers loftily. “So, will you do it?”

Taako opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, and says, “Look, if you really want me to, I guess I can apply for the job. It’s not like I have anything else going on.”

“Great.” Lup claps her hand and stands up. “Better get dressed, your interview’s in an hour.”

  


-+-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel morally obligated to say that teaching is not easy, it is actually SUPER HARD. (I am currently in my seventh year of teaching, and I love my job, but dang.) More on that topic in a future story, lol.
> 
> I'm orange_yarn on Tumblr and Twitter (mostly just Tumblr), if you'd like to say hi. Thank you for reading.


	3. -+- three -+-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been fussing over this chapter all week, and at this point, I'm just ready to call it. It is a little shorter than the others, but the scenes I cut make sense in a later story, anyway. This is the final chapter of this first story, but no worries! I will be back next Sunday with the first chapter of the next installment!
> 
> Fun fact! I googled "worst things to say at an interview" for this chapter. I think I did more interview research writing this than I have ever done for an actual job interview.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, some past sexual content is mentioned/implied.

-+-

three

-+-

  
  


Taako can’t decide if he’s grateful that Lup scored him an interview, or pissed that she barely gave him any warning. He settles on something in between as his carriage rattles its way up the main road. Hogwarts Castle looms overhead, and for a minute, he’s seventeen again, and--

\--and the sunlight reflects off the surface of the Great Lake. It’s the day after graduation, and in a few hours they’ll be boarding the Hogwarts Express for the very last time. They might as well enjoy one more lazy summer afternoon, before starting the rest of their lives.

Taako knew it was the beginning of something, but honestly, it felt like the beginning of the end. In two days, Magnus would leave for his internship in Romania, but at that moment, he was stomping around in the shallows of the lake. Taako sat with Julia on the grassy bank, and told himself he wasn’t going to miss this.

“Aren’t you worried?” Taako had asked, as Magnus cupped his hands around his mouth, calling for Fisher. He had been determined to say goodbye to his fish-buddy before they all left for good, but so far, he wasn’t having much luck. The waters remained still and calm.

“About what? The long-distance thing?” Julia twisted her promise ring around her finger -- Magnus had carved it himself. She shook her head resolutely. “No. Not at all.”

Taako rolled his eyes, and tossed a pebble into the water, watching the ripples. “I was more thinking, aren’t you worried Maggie will get  _ eaten by a dragon _ , but go ahead and make this about your love life, that’s fine.” 

Julia socked him in the arm, for that, and Taako glowered at her, but it was a welcome distraction. Anything was better than thinking about what would happen, after today. Most of their group had their shit together. Magnus would be rehabilitating magical creatures, while Lup, Barry, and Lucretia all had internships lined up with the Ministry. Julia was already accepted as a reserve Keeper in a professional Quidditch League, and Davenport and Merle had been offered full-time positions at Hogwarts. 

Taako was...still figuring it out.

There was a shape, rising up towards the surface of the lake, made of multi-colored lights and thousands of tendrils. Magnus whooped and cheered and--

\--and the carriage jolts to a stop, right outside the castle doors, and Taako blinks his eyes, back in the present.

There’s something surreal about hurrying through the hallways, past suits of armor and paintings that whisper as he passes. This could be any afternoon from his childhood, hustling to class so he’s not late, again,  _ come on, Taako, get it together.  _  He was kind of a fuck-up in school, and he’s sure as shit fucked up his adult life. 

“How about this?” Merle says. Taako had come across him just outside the Great Hall, and he’s offered to lead him up to Lucretia’s office, but with his stubby dwarven legs he’s about a half step behind the elf. “Tell her you’re considering other offers, so she’ll have to act fast if she wants you.”

“Pretty sure she’s gonna see through that one,” Taako replies, his robes swishing behind him as he takes the stairs two at a time. An hour’s notice was definitely not enough time to get ready, and he’s cutting it pretty close. He’s not sure how many second chances one person can realistically get.

“Well, don’t tell her about the whole, you know--” Merle grimaces and makes a vague hand gesture.

“Glamour Springs?” Taako asks, stopping short. He doesn’t have the time to waste, but it’s worth it, to give Merle a withering look. “I am _one hundred percent_ _sure_ she knows about it, my man. Everybody knows about it -- fuck, even you’ve heard about it.” 

“I'm just trying to help!” Merle insists, sounding cross, and then hurrying after Taako when he starts back up the staircase. “If she asks if you have any weaknesses, tell her--”

“--None, natch.”

Merle grins. “Oh yeah, you’ve got this in the bag.”

  
  


-+-

  
  


One morning, early in their second year, Barry led Lucretia over to their table at breakfast. Taako did his best to ignore most of his classmates -- he only knew Lucretia because he’d stolen her lab partner in Potions class. She was quiet, always writing in her journal, rarely interacting with the other students. Taako wasn’t looking for any more friends -- he made friends with Barry on accident, and then Magnus and Julia had gotten their hooks in him -- but Lup had welcomed her enthusiastically, and made her a space on the bench right beside her, and that was that.

She’d opened up, after being made Ravenclaw Prefect in their fifth year, and eventually Head Girl. It was a definite confidence boost, and she took her responsibility very seriously --  _ too  _ seriously, in Taako’s opinion. She’d given him detention, twice. And now, here she was, the youngest Headmaster in Hogwarts history, regal and self-assured, sitting behind the desk that Taako spent a lot of time sitting in front of, in and out of trouble his entire stay at this school. 

After a brief internship at the Ministry, Lucretia had come back to Hogwarts, and taught Muggle Studies for eight years. When the former Headmaster finally retired, Lucretia was the obvious choice for the position. On top of all of that, the latest novel in _ The Stolen Century _ , her mega popular science fiction series, was  _ still  _ on top of the New York Times Bestseller List. At least one of them still had crossover appeal.

“I have to say, Taako,” Lucretia says, looking up from the resume that Barry had put together for him. “I was surprised when Lup told me you were interested in this position.”

“Yeah, I was pretty surprised when Lup told me I was interested in this position, too.” Lucretia sighs, but Taako knows her well enough to see the corner of her lips quirk up in a smile. “But what can I say? I’m just, really passionate about education, or whatever.”

“Yes, well.” She folds her hands, and glances down at the resume. “I think we’re both familiar with your...previous work experience,” she says, her tone light, and for maybe a second Taako’s worried she’ll ask about Glamour Springs -- she’s a writer, she has to be curious about the truth behind all those articles, and he doesn’t know how much Lup and Barry told her -- but then, the moment passes. She says, “I see you’ve listed your skills. Creativity, adaptability, self-management--”

“--Self management?” Taako repeats, and scoffs. “Let me see that.” He remembers himself just a moment too late, leaning back in his chair and saying, “I mean. Yes, let me tell you about self management, which is a thing that I am great at doing--”

“--Taako.” Lucretia interrupts, swiftly putting him out of his misery. “I’m guessing Barry wrote this for you?” Taako makes a noncommittal noise, and Lucretia sighs, tapping her fingers on her desk. “You do understand that if I hire you, you can’t just trick Barry into grading all your papers.”

“We didn’t  _ trick  _ him,” Taako says, and honestly? He’s a little bit offended. “We had a system.”

“You really want to talk about this now?”

“We tried to bring you in for years,” Taako reminds her. “But you kept saying it was ‘ _ academic misconduct _ .’”

“It  _ was _ academic misconduct.” Lucretia breathes in deep, her hands steepled. “And what I meant was, you really want to talk about your elaborate system for  _ cheating on your homework _ in your interview for a  _ teaching position _ ?”

“Well, yeah.” Taako slumps back again. “I cheated so much in school, I know what to look for. Anything these little shits try, I can guarantee I already did it.” He grins, then says, “Did I say little shits? I meant little brats. Kids? I meant kids.” Lucretia’s eyes are narrowed, and Taako takes a deep, desperate breath, leaning a little closer to the desk. “Look, Luce, I’m not gonna sugar coat it, I will probably be a shitty teacher -- maybe not the shittiest teacher, because Merle  _ does  _ work here --  but Lup will  _ definitely  _ kill me if I don’t get this job, and you don’t want that on your conscience.”

It takes maybe twenty seconds for Lucretia to compose herself, rubbing at her temples with her eyes squeezed shut. “You are a very skilled Transmutation wizard,” she finally says, and Taako nods, because  _ hell yeah he is _ . “So I know you’re qualified for that aspect of the position. And as long as we’re being honest,” Lucretia sighs again, and looks at Taako. “I don’t have any other applicants, and the semester starts next week.”

“Way to make a guy feel wanted,” Taako says. “Do you take constructive criticism?” Lucretia’s eyes narrow, and then he really processes what she’s saying. “Wait, nobody else applied for this job?”

“No, plenty of people applied for this job,” Lucretia corrects, and she looks like whatever decision she’s made, she already regrets it. “But they have all since...withdrawn their applications.”

Taako nods, and thinks he might know the reason, and that the reason is probably his twin sister. He thinks Lucretia probably knows that, too. He grins and says, “So...I’m hired?”

  
  


-+-

 

“You owe me,” Lucretia says, the second Lup answers the phone. 

Lup snaps her fingers to catch Barry’s attention -- he’s folding laundry on the other side of the room -- they have a lot of packing to do, and only two days to do it. When he glances up at her, Lup mouths,  _ he got the job _ , and gestures at her phone. Barry gives a thumbs up. 

“Cretia, this is going to be great, I promise.” Lup flops down on the bed, nearly toppling one of the piles of folded clothes -- Barry has to lunge forward to keep it upright. “How’d he do in the interview?”   


Lucretia sighs and says, “You don’t want to know.” Lup hums, and yeah. That’s probably true. “I mean it, Lup. It’s bad enough wrangling Merle and Magnus, but  _ all three of them _ \--”

“Hey, look at it this way,” Lup says. “You almost have the complete set. Now we just need Julia to retire and come back to us-- god, Mags would be over the moon.” Barry huffs out a laugh as Lup continues thoughtfully. “She was always good at Charms.”

“We already have a Charms teacher,” Lucretia points out, and she’s right -- Johann graduated two years after the rest of them, and only started teaching three years ago. “I don’t think you can sweet talk him into retirement any time soon.”

“No, but maybe his music career will really take off.” Lup grins, thinking of the possibilities. “You know me, Lucretia. I’ll figure something out.”

  
  


-+-

  
  


“It’s weird, you know?” Taako asks, leaning against the parapet of the Astronomy tower. From up here, he has a perfect view of the sloping lawns in front of the school. A wave of memories rush over him -- laying out in the grass with Lup and Julia on sunny afternoons, practicing spells with Lucretia and Barry in the courtyard, that disastrous detention in the Forbidden Forest with Magnus and Merle. A thousand ordinary days, all blending together. More good than bad, if he’s being honest, and it’s hard to lie to himself, faced with it all over again. “I thought it’d feel...different.”

He thought maybe it would feel  _ smaller _ , but the castle is exactly the same. After the interview, Lucretia said she had to make an important call, so Davenport offered to show Taako around. Davenport was one of a handful of staff members who lived at the castle year round. He was a few years older than Taako and the others, and much like Lucretia, he had returned to Hogwarts not long after graduation. He started as an Apprentice to the Astronomy Professor. After Taako’s seventh year, Davenport’s mentor had retired, and he took over the position full time. Merle had done the same, but with Herbology, and without Davenport’s single minded devotion to his work. 

As part of the tour, Davenport had showed him to the Transfiguration classroom, and the attached office. Taako rummaged through the desk drawers, while Davenport explained the curriculum and grading practices and a bunch of other things Taako wasn’t ready to process yet. The staff would return to work on Monday, and they would have a week to prepare for the semester, before students arrived on September 1st. Taako was starting to wonder what, exactly, Lup had gotten him into.

Davenport twists the dials on a very complicated telescope, mounted on the parapet. The sun’s nearly set, and the stars will be out soon. He says, “This castle’s been here a lot longer than us, and it’ll be here long after we’re gone.”

Taako casts him a sideways glance. “Thanks for the nihilism, kemosabe. Man, you’re just a laugh and half, aren’t you?” He shivers, just a little, and not just because it’s unseasonably chill for an August evening. “This is why we don’t hang out more often.”

“I’m just saying, this place doesn’t change.” Davenport adjusts the angle, and then pulls back from the telescope, apparently satisfied. “It can’t change, it’s just a building, Taako. Wood and stone and--”

“--Magic,” Taako cuts in, and Davenport nods.

“Yeah, and magic. Lots of magic.” He sighs, and raps his knuckles against the tower wall. “ _ We’re _ the ones that keep changing. That’s life. You do your best to adapt, and you hope that you’re making the right choices.”

“This is all very profound,” Taako says, “But like, is there a moral to this particular story, or--”

“I know you went through a lot, this summer,” Davenport says, and Taako makes a noise in the back of his throat. “And I’m sorry about that. But we are glad to have you back. I think you’re going to do a lot of good here.”

“Yeah, well,” Taako leans up against the stone, and watches the last of the sunlight fade away. “I guess we’ll see about that.”

  
  


-+-

  
  


There’s an entire wing of the castle, just for the teachers’ living space. One afternoon, about a week after the hearing, Magnus, Julia, and Barry packed up Taako’s apartment for him and piled all the boxes in Lup and Barry’s spare bedroom. For his part, Taako stayed curled up in his blanket cocoon while Lup directed them where to put the boxes. Taako never bothered unpacking, and just lived out of a suitcase he kept propped up in the armchair. 

Now, though, he’s levitating the last of his suitcases into his new suite in the teacher’s wing. Lup had helped him sort through all his shit over the weekend. He’d thrown out just about anything that didn’t seem immediately useful -- Lup had convinced him to save some things, so he’d packed them up and put them into storage. Everything else, though, came with him to Hogwarts.

The suite is small, but pretty posh -- it’s an open floor plan, with a living room, and what he’d call a kitchenette, if he was feeling generous. It holds a compact refrigerator, an oven, and barely enough counter space, with cabinets up above. The living room is set up with a plush sofa set, and an oak coffee table, entertainment center, and bookcase. Back behind the almost-kitchen, there’s a small hallway with two doors, one to a bathroom, and the other to a cozy bedroom, with a queen sized bed, a mirror, and an armoire, and a window that overlooks the Great Lake.

“These have been here the whole time?” Taako wonders, levitating the suitcase onto the bed and dropping it there. He turns to Lup, who’s still in the living room. “Why didn’t we ever sneak into one of these?”   


“I did,” Lup says nonchalantly, dropping onto his couch with ease and not an ounce of respect. “With Barold. Seventh year. We snuck into the Charms professor’s room and--”   


“Aaaah, stop, stop,” Taako slaps his hands over his ears. “God, it’s too late, it’s in my brain now.”

Lup snorts in laughter, then tips her head back, watching him as he drops onto the couch beside her. She leans over and pokes him in the side. “I’m glad you’re here, bro.”

“So you could tell me all about you and Barold’s kinks?” Taako shudders, but leans into his sister’s shoulder anyway. “No, thank you. I just spent the entire summer in your living room, I already know too much.”

“Well, we’re right next door,” she says, nodding towards the far wall. “I’m sure you’ll be able to hear us  _ all night long _ .”

“Oh, I’m soundproofing this bad boy first thing,” Taako assures her, and she laughs. He’s quiet for a moment, and then pokes at her hand. She flexes her fingers, and grabs his hand and squeezes it. He takes a breath, and says, “But yeah, thanks, for this.” For a fresh start, for bringing him in closer, for letting him crash on her couch all summer. He doesn’t know how to say any of that, but luckily, with Lup, he doesn’t have to.

“Anytime, baby bro,” she says, slinging an arm over his shoulder, and tugging him in close.

  
  


-+-

end

-+-

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, when my sister and I were first planning this story back in October, I figured this first part would be about 10,000 words, so that worked out. \o/
> 
> NEXT SUNDAY, I will post the first of what I'm tentatively calling the interludes...it is about their first year as Hogwarts students. If you have been wondering which Hogwarts Houses I put most of the characters in, then your questions will be answered. I think I have mentioned a couple of them by now, though?
> 
> Thank you thank you thank you for reading so far! I hope you enjoyed this first story, and that you will stick around as the series continues!

**Author's Note:**

> This series updates on Sundays! I'm orange_yarn on tumblr and Twitter (mostly just tumblr). Come say hi!


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